Pabst Mine disaster
The Pabst Mine disaster happened on September 24, 1926, at the Pabst Iron Mine in Ironwood, Michigan. A shaft holding 46 iron ore miners collapsed. Three men were killed right away, and 43 others were trapped for 129 hours.
The mine was named after Frederick Pabst, the Milwaukee brewer who once owned it. It changed owners several times before Oliver Iron Mining Company, a U.S. Steel subsidiary, bought it in 1901. In 1904 they added the G shaft, a long, steep tunnel that went nearly 2,600 feet deep and ran with a concrete and wood lining. An elevator on a rail moved workers in and out, sometimes very fast.
September 1926 brought heavy rain, with some reports saying as much as 11 inches fell before the disaster. The weather likely contributed to problems in the shaft. Workers had already seen issues there, including bowed walls and derailed rails that damaged the lining, though repairs were made and work continued.
On the day of the accident, three electricians riding the elevator were killed when it fell or when rocks knocked it offline. A rock fall then sealed the shaft above the eighth level, trapping 40 miners there, plus two on the 13th level and one on the 18th. With limited food, the trapped men made tea from birch bark to drink.
Alfred Maki went down the shaft and heard signals from the trapped men. Rescue teams dug from the neighboring H shaft and then worked their way up to the trapped miners through a connecting tunnel to reach them in five days. The first rescuer asked what they wanted most, and the men asked for tobacco, which was provided as they were brought to the surface. Up to 5,000 people gathered at the mine when the survivors emerged. The miners were taken to a hospital and later released.
The rescue story made headlines across the country. In the community, a group formed to honor the miners with a Miners Memorial Heritage Park.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:07 (CET).